


home is where you are forgiven

by y0u_idjits



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Reference to Joffrey's abuse, Sister-Sister Relationship, Stark Family Reunion(s) (ASoIaF), Stark family feels, happy-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 16:23:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20450054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/y0u_idjits/pseuds/y0u_idjits
Summary: 'Westeros and Winterfell do not belong to her anymore and to go back would be to return to nothing. It’s an impossible dream that she can’t stop herself from dreaming.'





	home is where you are forgiven

Arya has kept herself firmly out of the political sphere of Westeros ever since her father died. Part of it is wanting to keep away from the cesspit that is King’s Landing, but deep down she knows it’s also to avoid dealing with her grief. Pretending she’s just a simple girl who teaches martial arts and is a regular at that little coffee shop on the corner is easier than being the girl whose life is complicated because half her family is dead.

She can deal with it, can deal with her avoidance of the past, if she works hard enough. If she works hard enough and dresses differently and listens to music that another girl would have scorned. She can pretend she’s not Arya Stark, pretend she’s fine, but -

Sansa, though. Sansa is another part of her self-imposed exile. She was furious with her sister for staying when Arya herself had run. Sansa stayed for the aftermath while Arya escaped it. Sansa cried her tears on live television at the funeral that Arya didn’t even attend. Worst of all, Sansa stayed with the family that Arya knew was behind the crash in the first place. Any guilt Arya felt for her departure was outweighed by her fury at Sansa for this betrayal, because Sansa knew, she _must_ know. Arya wouldn’t let herself consider any other option. Sansa had to know.

So Arya’s <strike>guilt</strike> anger has included wilful ignorance of her sister’s wellbeing. Before leaving for Braavos, she was reluctantly aware of her sister’s ongoing relationship with Joffrey Baratheon, but since then she hasn’t heard a word. Hasn’t heard from anyone, to tell the truth. Not anyone up North or those she met in King’s Landing. She thinks every now and then of blue eyes and broad shoulders before she can stop herself. She left all that behind for a reason, even if the reason gets weaker everyday.

She has no reason to return to Westeros, nothing to go home to. Parents dead, brothers dead or scattered around the country with no hope of finding them, and a sister she can’t decide if she hates or pities. Westeros and Winterfell do not belong to her anymore and to go back would be to return to nothing. It’s an impossible dream that she can’t stop herself from dreaming.

Until it comes true.

The news reaches Braavos, which shows how big of a deal it is. Newspapers have all been bought up and the radio is crackling away in every shop she passes. Westerosi scandal has always been a source of satisfaction for those in Braavos, and nothing is more scandalous than the events of the weekend.

Arya knows she shouldn’t, but she can’t help but pick up a copy.

**:::**

WINTER IS COMING TO STEAL THE SHOW. _Melisandre Asshai_

‘_Margaery Tyrell has announced the end of her engagement to Joffrey Baratheon (son of Prime Minister Cersei Lannister and late Prime Minister Robert Baratheon) following the events of the Highgarden Summer Gala which Miss Tyrell’s family hosts every year._

_Miss Tyrell had previously been sure of the future of the couple’s relationship, getting engaged a year ago - the date for the wedding set for two month’s time. She gave an interview with _Westeros Weekly_ in which she admitted to never having loved anybody ‘as much as my dear Joff’. The couple began their relationship two years ago, jumping into the love boat only days after Mr Baratheon ended his three year engagement to Miss Sansa Stark. _

_Miss Stark is certainly a topic of interest all over Westeros. Even before her hasty departure to the North immediately after the end of her relationship, rumours had been circling of arguments, unhappiness and no small amount of tears – all confirmed this weekend with her appearance at the party on the arm of Mr Willas Tyrell, the eldest Tyrell brother. _

_Stark has been building a name for herself in the North, elected mayor of Winterfell and beating out Roose Bolton despite being just twenty five years of age. Returning the city to the glory it had hosted under her father’s governance with the help of her half-brother Jon Snow, Miss Stark’s hand has smoothed over the Northern tensions that have grown immeasurably since the death of her father. Crime rates have decreased, police-civilian relations have improved, and the unemployment rate has not only stabilised but looks to be on the way down. Sansa Stark may have her mother’s look, but she is Northern to her bones, something very evident in her passion for her home._

_Her presence as Mr Tyrell’s date was enough to set tongues wagging – the ‘heir to the Highgarden’ is not one for politics, usually keeping his hands clean by devoting his time to running the family business. A handsome man, resembling his sister greatly, he helps Miss Stark out of their car and walks proudly with a cane alongside her as the cameras start flashing, her arm safely tucked into his elbow - no doubt to support for her for what comes next._

_Her red hair, a stunning feature that usually cascades down her back, has been styled into an elegant twist, leaving only a single curl loose to brush her neck. Her gown is a dazzling silver and emphasises a slim and strong figure with its high neckline and thin straps over her shoulders. It is not until Miss Stark turns, however, that the full effect of the backless dress is revealed._

_A crude scar in the shape of a ‘J’ begins halfway down her back and ends just where the fabric pools at the base of her spine. It has a puckered look to it, evidently crafted years ago and most likely never properly treated or healed. It is hard to look away from it, even though there are many more to gaze at. Miss Stark’s skin is a torn canvas, battered and beaten by the very man the Gala aims to endorse as Warden of the West. _

_The crowd is silent for a long moment before reporters and photographers begin shouting for Miss Stark, who continues alongside Mr Tyrell up the steps and through the doors. Inside sources can only tell us what happened next:_

_“Sansa Stark meant to ruin the happiness of the couple by turning up the way she did because she’s jealous she never got the wedding she wanted,” one guest revealed._

_Another asserted that, “Sansa had already warned her former friend of Joffrey’s true nature to no avail; I think this was the only way she could get Margaery to listen.”_

_Both suggestions have remained unconfirmed by representatives of the Tyrells, Starks, or Baratheons/Lannisters. All three families have remained silent since the Gala until Miss Tyrell’s announcement just yesterday morning. Whether she has proof that her fiancé was the cause of Miss Stark’s scars or has enough belief in her former friend (and – with eyes on Willas Tyrell – future sister-in-law?) to take the warning as truth, Miss Tyrell has certainly recognised that after a long line of hushed-up scandals and transgressions, this will be very difficult for Mr Baratheon to escape._

**:::**

Arya waits, researches, and contemplates her options.

Option 1: She ignores everything she has learned and continues living in Braavos. She doesn’t read the reports that have been released about Ned Stark’s accident or about the arrest of Roose Bolton and Walder Frey in connection to the deaths of Robb and Mother. She locks down every thought of home and embraces fully the identity she has carefully crafted to remove any trace of Arya Stark from her current life.

Option 2: She moves further East, maybe to Norvos, and escapes the past that has managed to creep back into her life across the Narrow Sea. She erases social worker files about her youngest brother and medical photos of her sister’s injuries from her memory.

Option 3: She… she goes home. And faces what she has kept buried for too long.

**:::**

Arya steps off the plane at White Harbour International and feels like crying. She can hardly move her feet towards the doors, doesn’t really want to collect her bags, because then she’ll have to see her family, see her home, she what she’s _missed_.

But she does move, because she’s Arya Stark and she has never not kept going.

She tugs her coat more sharply around herself and hoists her backpack higher on her shoulder. She spends forty minutes waiting for her suitcase to come through, each minute making her more tense until it finally appears and she grabs it with a ferocity that startles the man beside her.

Her eyes scan the crowd as she walks through the arrivals lounge, both hoping and fearing that the letter arrived on time. All that was it in was her flight details. She hadn’t thought of anything else to say.

She bumps into some woman, half-turning to apologise, when her eyes latch onto a face she hasn’t seen in years. It knocks the breath out of her lungs and she’s left gaping like a fish at her brother.

Jon spots her and the joy on his face is enough to wipe any doubts she had clean away. She runs to him and he meets her halfway. She doesn’t realise she’s crying as he sweeps her off her feet to gather her into a hug. And god, she’d forgotten how good his hugs were.

He pulls back, cradling her face in his hands, tears in his eyes, “Oh how I’ve missed you, little sister.”

**:::**

She steps out of the car onto the gravel of Winterfell Manor’s driveway. Her eyes scan the old building, looking so unchanged as if it could hide the past few years and pretend they hadn’t happened. Something it can’t hide is the group of people standing on the steps.

Bran looking bored in his wheelchair. Old Nan still wearing that awful yellow coat. Rickon fidgeting with his jacket and at least two heads taller than she remembers. Old Luwin peering through his smudged glasses. Ghost, sitting obediently beside - Sansa. Of course, Sansa.

Her sister looks pale, the shock of her hair cooling her skin further until she looks like the old Weirwood tree. Arya scans her face, looks for the damage she’s read about in the reports that have kept coming to light these past two weeks. She looks for the young girl who’s been battered, broken, and bruised. The girl who loved fairy tales and romance. The girl who tormented her younger sister but still kissed her goodnight before bed. There is nothing of the Sansa she knew in the woman before her.

And then Sansa smiles, and despite Jon at her back, and her brothers on the steps, it is that smile – the same smile Mother and Robb had, the smile Arya had always wanted to grace her own face – that smile lets her know she is forgiven, that she is loved, that she is _home_.


End file.
